Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Enormous
E-nor′mous
,Adj.
1.
Exceeding the usual rule, norm, or measure; out of due proportion; inordinate; abnormal.
“Enormous bliss.” Milton.
“This enormous state.” Shak.
“The hoop’s enormous size.” Jenyns.
Wallowing unwieldy,
enormous
in their gait. Milton.
2.
Exceedingly wicked; outrageous; atrocious; monstrous;
as, an
. enormous
crime
Syn. – Huge; vast; immoderate; immense; excessive; prodigious; monstrous.
–
Enormous
, Immense
, Excessive
. We speak of a thing as enormous when it overpasses its ordinary law of existence or far exceeds its proper average or standard, and becomes – so to speak – abnormal in its magnitude, degree, etc.; as, a man of
. Immense expresses somewhat indefinitely an immeasurable quantity or extent. Excessive is applied to what is beyond a just measure or amount, and is always used in an evil; enormous
strength; a deed of enormous
wickednessas,
; an immense expenditure; the expanse of ocean is immense. “Excessive levity and indulgence are ultimately excessive rigor.” enormous
size; an enormous
crimeV. Knox.
“Complaisance becomes servitude when it is excessive.” La Rochefoucauld (Trans).
Webster 1828 Edition
Enormous
ENOR'MOUS
,Adj.
1.
Going beyond the usual measure or rule.Enormous in their gait.
2.
Excursive; beyond the limits of a regular figure.The enormous part of the light in the circumference of every lucid point.
3.
Great beyond the common measure; excessive; as enormous crime or guilt.4.
Exceeding, in bulk or highth, the common measure; as an enormous form; a man of enormous size.5.
Irregular; confused; disordered; unusual.Definition 2024
enormous
enormous
English
Adjective
enormous (comparative more enormous, superlative most enormous)
- (obsolete) Deviating from the norm; unusual, extraordinary.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York 2001, p.105:
- all shall be rather enforced than hindered, except they be dismembered, or grievously deformed, infirm, or visited with some enormous hereditary disease is body or mind […].
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York 2001, p.105:
- (obsolete) Exceedingly wicked; atrocious or outrageous.
- 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.12:
- how apt wee are to receive all impressions, and chiefly the most wicked and enormous.
- 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.12:
- Extremely large; greatly exceeding the common size, extent, etc.
- 2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:
- Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess:
- He turned back to the scene before him and the enormous new block of council dwellings. The design was some way after Corbusier but the block was built up on plinths and resembled an Atlantic liner swimming diagonally across the site.
-
Synonyms
Translations
extremely large
|
|